Shadow Slave

Usually, it would have taken Kai a lot longer to fly across the city to reach the tranquil terrace district… not that he would have. But today, the famous idol neglected his habit of staying low and out of sight. It seemed that his speed increased tremendously, as well, because ten minutes later, he was already at Sunny's door.

Maybe because of that, there was no crowd of paparazzi following him.

As they waited for Cassie, Effie rummaged through the empty refrigerator, then walked away from it with a disappointed sigh.

"There's no food!"

Sunny, who was evaluating the damage the boisterous huntress had done to the guest bedroom, glanced at her darkly.

"We've been gone for months. What did you expect?"

Effie made a sad face, then shrugged.

"But I'm hungry!"

Sunny let out an exasperated breath.

"...I have some synthpaste, if you want."

She shuddered and opened her mouth to retort, but at that moment, there was a knock on the door. If not for the haughty shadow standing guard outside — reluctantly, of course, since mundane tasks such as this were grossly beneath it — Sunny would have tensed up.

However, he already knew that it was Cassie.

The blind girl walked inside, froze for a moment, then raised a deliciously smelling package.

"...I brought food."

quick glance at Kai and

Someone has

did not stare at

charming, but after becoming a Master, his looks assumed an almost hypnotizing quality. It was easy to get distracted if one stared

Kai and Cassie for a bit, Sunny couldn't help but shake his head ruefully, a stunned expression on his face.

in one sentence with someone like her. Jet possessed an intangible quality that no one he had ever met was able to match. The four of them were Masters too, now, but they were far away from

And Sunny himself?

couldn't call himself unassuming anymore. The scrawny kid from the outskirts was gone. Instead, a young

in their darkness, visible only to Sunny himself, golden threads of Weaver's

the table and shared a silent

the four seemed too joyous… well, except for

other free, however, just felt… hurt, tired, and

no time for weakness. They had to carry on no matter how deep the wounds dealt to their souls cut. Now that the danger had passed and the members of the cohort were back in the real world, all those invisible scars were starting

Colosseum, the nightmares, the assault on the Ivory City… all of it was slowly

had their share of

poured himself a cup of tea, looked at Sunny, and asked

don't remember much after being swallowed

stared at the archer with

what? You were swallowed

Kai smiled with embarrassment:

of… jumped into his mouth. Because I didn't know how else

Effie blinked a few times, but didn't say anything. She even forgot about her food for

down,

had assumed that I would not trust anyone with the knives, I think. After you killed the dragon, there was no real reason for him to stay. He left to salvage at least some rewards before the Nightmare ended, and I

grew quiet for a few moments,